CHINA--AS SHE WAS.
PART SECOND.
In the first article on China, reference was made to some of
the characteristics of the Chinese, but the subject was not
exhausted--in fact, it would require several articles to exhaust
this subject, and attention can only be given to those traits or
customs which are in most violent contrast with our own.
Chinese society is patriarchal in its organization, the family
being the unit and the father the head of the family. The Chinese
sages present filial piety and fraternal submission as the root
of all benevolent action. The children are subject to the parents
as long as the parents live, and the younger sons are subject to
the eldest. The four relations which are continually discussed by
the philosophers are: First, the relation between the king and his
ministers; second, between the father and his sons; third, between
the elder brother and the younger brothers; fourth, between the
individual and his fellows, but the fourth relation receives the
least consideration.
Marriages are arranged by the parents, and the children must be
content with the selection made. When the wife is taken to the home
of the husband, she becomes a member of his family and subject to
her mother-in-law, if the husband's mother is still alive. As other
sons are married their wives are brought in and they are expected to
live peaceably together--an expectation which is not always fully
realized. As law and custom permit the system of concubinage, it is
not strange that the home is often the scene of contention rather
than the center of felicity.
As the duty of sacrificing to ancestors falls upon the son, the
advent of a boy is the signal for rejoicing, while the birth of a
girl is not considered a good omen. So unpopular was the female baby
that in some provinces many of them were formerly put to death, but
child-murder is now on the decrease.
No one can visit China without becoming acquainted with a peculiarly
oriental phrase called "losing face." One of the first newspapers
that I picked up in China described the attempted suicide of a man
who complained that he had "lost his face" because a magistrate
refused to commence a prosecution on his complaint. In China there
is a constant effort to keep up appearances, and when this is no
longer possible, the unfortunate one feels that he can not look
anyone else in the face. Chinese life is saturated with this "face"
doctrine; it percolates through their disputes and oozes out through
the pores of their diplomacy. Justice is of less importance in the
deciding of a controversy than the saving of the parties from the
loss of "face." There are in each community "peace-talkers" who make
a business of so adjusting disputes that neither party will seem to
be in the wrong.
In dealing with China this national characteristic must be borne
in mind, and it is to be regretted that foreign nations have in
their negotiations sometimes imitated China instead of setting her
a better example. One constantly meets over here with the theory
that the foreigner must conform to the methods of the Orient, but
this is always advanced as an excuse for following a bad custom.
It is impossible to convince China that our ideal is a better
one than hers unless that ideal is embodied in action. When our
country admitted that the indemnity collected from Japan after
the Shimonoseki affair was excessive, and returned it, she made a
deep impression upon the Japanese. It was several times referred
to by speakers during our recent visit to Japan as an evidence of
our country's desire to do justice to other nations. It was just
as honorable for a nation to acknowledge an error as it is for an
individual to do so, and our nation has an opportunity to admit
another excessive demand and return to China a part of the indemnity
collected at the close of the Boxer trouble.
No nation has ever given more emphasis to ceremony than does China.
Confucius places propriety among the cardinal virtues, and the
doctrine has been elaborated until the whole life is fettered by
formality. Each rising generation is drilled in the performance
of certain rites required by approved etiquette, and it would be
humiliating for one to have to confess that he did not know the
proper thing to do and the proper way to do it. Even sincerity is
considered much less important, and both Confucius and Mencius set
demoralizing examples in placing the latter above the former. In the
Analects, an instance is given where one, Joo Pei, wished to see
Confucius, but the latter refused to see him "on the ground of being
sick." When the bearer of the message had left, Confucius "took his
harpsicord, and sang to it, in order that Pei might hear him." It
is related of Mencius that he was about to go to court to see the
king when he received a message from the king saying that the latter
"was wishing to call on Mencius but was detained by a cold." Mencius
replied, "Unfortunately, I am unwell and unable to go to court," but
the next day he went out and paid a visit of condolence to another
family. While he was absent from the house the king's messenger
called with a physician, whereupon the representative of Mencius
explained that he was sick the day before, but that being a little
better he had hastened to court. It was then necessary to send out
several men to intercept Mencius and get him to the king's house.
All of this subterfuge was resorted to in order to get the king to
call upon Mencius first.
[Illustration: HOUSE BOATS AT CANTON.]
The kowtow is still a part of the ceremonial greeting. If two
officials are riding and meet, they dismount and bow their heads to
the ground. In the schools the students kowtow before a Confucian
tablet twice each month. When we visited the government school at
Shanghai we noticed mats upon the floor of the otherwise empty
assembly hall, and upon inquiry learned that at seven the next
morning the students would perform the usual Confucian rites. These
consist of a series of kowtows. At a given signal the students
kneel on the mats and bow three times toward the tablet, their
heads each time touching the floor; they then rise and after a
short interval kneel again at a signal and bow three times more.
This ceremony is again repeated, making nine bows in all. Then they
kneel and bow three times to the professors; after saluting the
professors each student bows once to the student next to him and
the meeting adjourns. We thought it would be interesting to witness
this service in honor of one who has received more formal reverence
than any other mortal, and arising before it was light, we made
the journey to the college, which is distant an hour's ride from
the hotel. When we arrived we found that for some reason which we
could not ascertain, the ceremony would not be performed. Whether
the postponement was due to objection to the presence of foreigners
(visitors had been present on former occasions) or to some other
cause, was left in mystery.
Our morning ride, however, answered one purpose; as the road ran
some distance by the side of a little stream, it enabled us to see
something of houseboat life. Hundreds of little boats line the
stream, and in their diminutive mat-covered cabins were housed
thousands of natives, many of whom are born, live and die in these
unstable homes. As they were preparing the morning meal we had a
chance to confirm the stories regarding their want of cleanliness.
It was not an uncommon thing to see a woman washing rice in the
muddy water and a few feet away, another woman throwing refuse
matter into the stream, or a man performing his morning ablutions.
At Canton one has a still larger opportunity to observe houseboat
life where the Pearl river furnishes the water supply and at the
same time an open sewer for a floating population of many thousands.
The contrast between the bath-loving Japanese and the dirty,
complacent Chinese laborer is very marked and this contrast is
also noticeable in the streets. The sights and smells that greet
the senses along the narrow streets of a native city are not soon
forgotten by one who travels through China, and one's ideas of
modesty, too, are sadly wrenched.
But whatever may be said of the habits of the lower class Chinese,
they are an industrious and patient people. After watching them
work and observing the conditions under which they live, one can
scarcely begrudge them whatever comfort they can find in the dreams
of Heaven which they draw from their opium pipes. And speaking of
opium, one is restrained from speaking too harshly of the habit by
a recollection of the fact that the opium trade was forced upon the
"Heathen Chinee" by a great Christian nation.
The Chinese have their amusements, one of which is the theatre.
We attended one theatre in Pekin and found the room crowded with
men. It was a commodious hall with a gallery, but the stage was
not relatively so large as in Japan. The acting reminded us more
of the American stage than did the Japanese, but the scenery was
exceedingly scanty. The audience expressed itself in approval or
disapproval with a good deal of freedom.
We found a sport in China which we have not heard of elsewhere,
viz., quail fighting. These little birds are matched against each
other as fighting cocks are in the Spanish countries. One American
told us of a fight between cockroaches. These combats, as well as
those between the quails, give an opportunity for betting--a vice
which prevails in the Orient as well as in the Occident.
The Chinese have a bird contest which involves neither cruelty nor
bloodshed, although the element of gambling is also present in it.
I refer to the singing matches between larks. The Chinese are very
fond of birds and one cannot go upon the street without seeing
men carrying bird cages. The birds are aired much as pet dogs are
exercised in our country. The favorite singing bird is the lark,
and these are entered by their owners in contests, considerable
sums often being placed upon a bird. The award is made by the birds
themselves, one after another confessing defeat until but one
songster is left upon his perch. The winner is quite exultant, while
the others show as much humiliation as a Chinaman who has "lost his
face." The defeated birds will not sing again for months.
In another article I have referred to the superstitions so
widespread in China. There is one form of superstition which has
interfered with both religion and commerce. The natives have for
centuries been the victims of sorcerers and fortune tellers who,
professing a knowledge of terrestrial and celestial forces, style
themselves "Fungshui" doctors and make a living by selecting lucky
burial sites, foretelling the future, etc. There are certain spirits
which are supposed to preside over certain places, and any change in
the conformation of the ground is thought to anger the spirits. A
railroad cut or fill is sometimes objected to for this reason, and
a church spire is, in the opinion of the superstitious, liable to
endanger the peace and safety of a community. However, commerce is
extending in spite of the "spirits" and the Christian religion is
gradually making headway against superstition.
At Pekin I attended a morning service at the Methodist church
where some six hundred Chinese men and women listened to a sermon
in their own language delivered by an American missionary. On
Thanksgiving day we ate dinner at the Presbyterian Mission, and
during our travels through China met a number of ministers,
physicians and teachers. They all testified to the stimulus given
to the spread of religion by the fidelity shown by the Chinese
Christians during the Boxer troubles. At Nanking we visited a school
conducted by the Disciples or Christian Church, and at Shanghai, a
school supported by the Episcopalian Church of America. There is
also at Shanghai a college, the main purpose of which is to bring
the white and yellow races into closer harmony. Prof. Isaac T.
Headland of the Methodist University at Pekin has published a volume
entitled "Chinese Heroes," in which he gives a number of instances
of consecrated devotion on the part of the Chinese to the Christian
faith, and why should not China be a promising mission field?
Buddhism has here done its perfect work and can not reasonably ask
for a further trial; the philosophy of the sages has also been
shown impotent for the harmonious development of the three-fold
man. China has followed an ideal and followed it with a diligence
rarely exhibited, but that ideal has been weighed in the balance
and found wanting. It is often said in defense of Confucianism
that its founder gave to his disciples the golden rule, stated in
its negative form, but too little emphasis has been given to the
difference between the doctrine of Confucius, "Do not unto others
as you would not have others do unto you," and, the doctrine of the
Nazarene, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them." There is a world of difference between negative
harmlessness and positive helpfulness, and Christianity could well
afford to rest its case against Confucianism on the comparison of
these two doctrines.
[Illustration: YUAN SHI KAI--VICEROY TIENTSIN AND PEKIN]
In the Analects of Confucius the philosopher is asked, "Is there
one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's
life?" He was answered, "Is not reciprocity such a word?" Here
we have the doctrine of selfishness as plausibly presented as it
will ever be again. Life is described as a balancing of favors--a
nice calculation of good done and good received. There is no
suggestion here of a heart overflowing with love, no intimation of a
blessedness to be found in giving.
At another time someone asked Confucius, "What do you say concerning
the principle that injury should be recompensed with kindness?" He
replied, "With what then will you recompense kindness? Recompense
injury with justice and recompense kindness with kindness." In reply
to another question, he goes so far as to charge that one "who
returns good for evil, is a man that is careful of his person."
How different these precepts are from those of the Sermon on the
Mount! Christians are accused of failure to live up to the high
ideal presented by Jesus, and the accusation is just, and yet,
although the Christian nations fall far short of the measure which
they themselves recognize, although professing Christians reflect
but imperfectly the rays which fall upon them from the Sun of
Righteousness, they are leading the world in all that is ennobling
and uplifting, and China gives silent recognition to the superiority
of the western ideal in every reform which she undertakes.